Please the Lord to bless our
meditation as we continue in the Acts of the Apostles chapter
5 and we'll just consider verses 12 to 16. We'll just read them again. And
by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought
among the people and they were all of one accord in Solomon's
porch and the rest Thirst no man joined himself to them, but
the people magnified them. And believers were the more added
to the Lord, multitudes, both men and women, insomuch that
they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on
beds and couches, that the least the shadow of Peter passing by
might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out
of the cities round about unto Jerusalem bringing sick folks
and them which were vexed with unclean spirits and they were
healed every one. Well we observe the amazing blessing
of the Lord which continued really as we know commenced with the
healing of that lame man who came forth and Peter and John
were there and he was healed and we know that following that
the apostles were able to speak and to preach and what a great
and glorious effect it had upon those that heard and then last
week we consider the beginning of this fifth chapter the accounts
of Ananias and Sapphira and we saw the very solemn situation
which developed with them when they pretended to have sold a
piece of land and to have brought the possession and to have laid
it at the apostles feet and in fact they were dishonest, they
kept back part of the price. we notice how the apostle Peter
said that they had agreed together to tempt the spirit of the Lord
and a very sad result that was first Ananias dropped down dead
and then Sapphira when she came also so it was a very very solemn
situation and at the end of that account we read and great fear
came upon all the church and upon as many as heard these things. And so with that in mind we now
come to these words. And by the hands of the apostles
were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. What a wonderful
thing it was to observe the work of God as the apostles spoke
and as the apostles laid their hands on one and another but
then we come to this section which is in parenthesis and it
reads and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch
now Solomon's porch is not described actually in the word of God but
there was a historian called Josephus who lived about the
time and he did recall that Solomon's porch was really quite a considerable
building attached really to the temple and it was therefore that
these people gathered together and it is significant that we
read and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch so
first of all we see they all came together They didn't say,
well I think I'll stay away and I won't come. They all came together. And they came to this suitable
place, Solomon's Porch, to gather in. And the other thing to note
is, the wonder that they were all with one accord. There was
no division. They all desired the same things. You know, it's a lovely situation,
isn't it? When the people of God come together
with that true unity, love one for another and desiring that
Christ may be lifted up and honoured and glorified. So that was the
picture that we have here. All these people now coming together,
all those who indeed fear the Lord and of the rest, the snowman
joined himself to them. You might say well who were they
and why were they? Well we just of course considered
Ananias and Sapphira and we saw how God's anger came upon them
and they died before the Lord and this must have had a very
great effect upon the multitude and upon those present at that
time and they would form part of this rest who does not join,
no man, join himself to them. Ananias and Sapphira had really
pretended to be true disciples. They weren't true disciples,
but they pretended to, because there had been those who of course
sold possessions and especially Barnabas who sold all his goods
and they come and they brought them at the apostles feet. And
now we see these people, the rest, durst, no man joined himself
to them. But the people magnified them.
They couldn't but help magnify the things that had occurred.
You see the Lord grants that through his work in one way or
another, his name is magnified. And it's a very solemn consideration
to think that sometimes God is magnified to the death of unbelievers. Perhaps the arrow of conviction
strikes home. And then we read, and believers
were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women. What an occasion it was, what
a wonderful time, these days of the early church. Yes, they
were brought together and they heard the word preached. And
what really, what brought them, what drew them, what was the
effect? Well, I think it was what we
read in an earlier chapter and we considered about Peter speaking. And when Peter saw it, he answered
the people, ye men of Israel, Why marvel ye at this? This was
the healing of this lame man. And why marvel ye at this? Or why look ye so earnestly on
us? As though by our own power or
holiness we had made this man to walk. You see, the apostle
didn't want to claim any merit himself. He wanted all the glory
to go to God. The God of Abraham and of Isaac
and of Jacob. the God of our fathers hath glorified
his son Jesus whom he delivered up and denied him in the presence
of Pilate when he was determined to let him go but ye denied the
holy one and just and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you and killed the prince of life whom God has raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses. Well that was the lovely testimony
that the Apostle Peter was able to give and surely that was a
testimony that was abiding in these people's minds and hearts
And this was the testimony that they heard. And as they heard
that testimony, and as they perhaps meditated upon it, and as the
Spirit of God came upon them, we read and believe us. They were believers, those who
believed. And it's only those who believe
are added to the Church of God. There's no unbelievers found
in the Church of God. But what a wonderful consideration
it is to see here that there were added to the Lord multitudes,
both of men and women. Well, we long, do we not, for
blessings today. No, God is the same. Perhaps
we don't see the same healing miracles or the same appearances
that we read of here, but nonetheless we should never underestimate
the power of Almighty God. He is able, and may we truly,
prayerlessly, with faith, blessed with as we heard, that faith
of Abraham to pray in this way that all would indeed come and
do great things. And so then after the parenthesis
and this going back then to what we read and by the hands of the
apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people
insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets and
laid them on beds and couches that at least the shadow of Peter
passing by might overshadow some of them. Now, we know that was
true, we know what happened, we know there was much healing. Much healing naturally. My friends,
well neither is today. Oh, healing spiritually. And
we see here what occurred. These people, they brought forth
the sick into the streets and laid them on the beds and couches
at the least. The shadow of Peter passing by
might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out
of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks,
and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were
healed every one. What it was a wonderful time,
wasn't it? What a time it was of blessing. What a time of favour. And we
just move on for a moment to the next few verses, because
we see then the anger, Then the high priest rose up and all that
were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled
with indignation. How they hated to see the work
of God. And it's no different today.
We see animosity and hatred against the work of God. We see them
rising up and filled with indignation. And what was the result? They
laid hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. We remember, real religion is
costly. As we go through the acts of
the apostles, we will notice on many occasions what God's
people had to endure, especially the apostles, especially the
apostle Paul. what he had to suffer and what
he had to endure. But here we see the ire of the
higher priests and those with him wanting to stop this good
news of the gospel being proclaimed. Wanting to halt any healing which
declared the power of God. And the only way they could see
naturally was to take hold of them and to put them in prison.
if so be they could stop this work well we are thankful to
know the work of our God goes on yes man cannot stop the work
of God man the devil has tried to stop the work of God right
from the very beginning my friends he never never succeeded and
he never will because God is almighty and what God says will
come to pass what God has promised does come to pass and so may
we be encouraged today to believe in the word of God to believe
his truth and to know that we have a God who can and does do
great things may our faith be increased to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ Amen